New Books and Author Entries
UNTIL IT'S OVER by Nicci French
Submitted by voyagersaus on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 4:38pm.
Publisher:
Michael Joseph
Copyright:
2007
ISBN:
9780-0718-14785-3
Pages:
377
Price:
AUD $ 32.95 Trade paperback
Synopsis:
Free and breezy Astrid Bell lives in the moment, working as a bike courier in busy London, placing down no permanent roots or committing herself to relationships that might not make the distance. She shares a crumbling old house in an established street with a bunch of other displaced young people who have little in common other than the fact that money is short and they all agree that the location is good. One night Astrid is accidentally knocked off her bike by an elderly neighbour - no big deal really other than a few cuts and scrapes, but it is what happens after that disturbs the life of the otherwise quiet street. Peggy Farrell the next morning is found dead amongst the dustbins, clearly by the hand of another, and Astrid and her friends were the last to see the poor woman alive.
Attracting trouble once again, Astrid is called to collect a parcel from a wealthy woman's home and finds no parcel, only a dead woman. As she is questioned by the police it isn't immediately obvious to her what the connections to the two deaths are, bearing in mind that is was pure co-incidence that Astrid was the courier called upon that day. The police however are firm and insist that the common factor in this murder, and in subsequent others, of course, is Astrid herself.
Review:
Husband and wife writing team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French have been churning out the psychological thrillers now for almost ten years since the release of THE MEMORY GAME. Every year another is released and they all feature variations on a similar theme, that being of the urban girl in jeopardy. UNTIL IT'S OVER lacks the density of some of the priors and is almost startlingly light in the mental conundrums we're used to seeing in novels by these authors. The suspense, such as it is when it appears, doesn't gel with the casualness in which the characters go about their lives, as they keep it all upbeat and act strangely indifferent to the murders happening around them.
Perhaps this is a deliberate play for the female market. Not romantic suspense as such, but skimming somewhere close to it. Think backpacker murders in inner city London, only it is an old house with the tenants being virtually squatters. What holds these people in the house is the prospect of losing their cheap rent when the owner decides to move his less than easy-going girlfriend in. It is so absurd to think that a legal battle could even be contemplated in such circumstances, and it simply isn't enough of a plot driver to keep all the characters rooted in what is clearly an extremely dangerous place to be. UNTIL IT'S OVER is a somewhat shallow read, nowhere near the calibre of what Nicci French is more than capable of, yet may be just the ticket if you aren't in the mood to agonize over the plight of the characters, and simply want to see how it all ends.
Kudos to the cover artist as the cover image at first appears to be a rather creepy bug! At second glance, it can be seen that it is actually a bicycle wheel with the spokes bent out of shape (very relevant to how this book begins).
FEARLESS FOURTEEN by Janet Evanovich
Submitted by voyagersaus on Sun, 06/07/2008 - 4:38pm.
in
Publisher:
Headline
Copyright:
2008
ISBN:
978-0-7553-3761-3
Pages:
308
Price:
AUD $ 32.99
Synopsis:
Live is never dull in the 'Burg. Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows that
her boyfriend, Joe Morelli, would rather her job was a little more tame and
domestic. Anything really would be acceptable that didn't involve guns,
getting her car regularly blown up and being in close contact with the
dangerously attractive Ranger, also a bounty hunter on the side.
Stephanie lands herself with a teenage son of the 'Burg when his mother fails
to make her court appearance and it isn't only Stephanie who is noticing that
the kid looks a heck of a lot like Morelli. Distant cousins supposedly,
and so trouble is taken to Morelli's doorstep when he agrees to keep an eye on
the apprentice graffiti artist and junior gamer master.
In trying to locate Loretta the skipper, Stephanie makes contact with Loretta's
unbalanced brother Dom, fresh out of the clink and supposedly in possession of
certain stolen proceeds that she feels could help with Loretta's bonding
fee. Dom still holds the family suspicion that Morelli could be
sitting on dear departed Auntie Rose's fortune and is determined to get his
piece of it. If that involves half the 'Burg fronting up with shovels to
the house, then so be it. Meanwhile Stephanie has a high-profile
customer to protect on her visit to Trenton who isn't averse to shining the
loving light of cheap publicity a little more brightly on herself, caring
little of how hard that will make poor Stephanie’s life become.
Review:
Everything is thrown into the pie with FEARLESS FOURTEEN, with most of the
supporting cast from previous novels poking their heads into the mayhem.
This is comforting and familiar territory for the regular reader, and not at
all a bad thing. Dear Stephanie's antics are pretty much the same as they
always have been, and Evanovich remains a genius with the snap and sass of her
character's life collisions. The everyday is hilarious and the stoic
forward motion of Stephanie Plum when friends and foe alike go off on their own
little tangents around her is something to be admired. From potato
bombs to reluctant grooms (don't worry, this is not a spoiler), Evanovich finds
something to work with in every situation and continues to do a sterling job in
making the reader laugh at her cast, while adoring them also.
The character of Steph has had a rest from life changing decisions and is in a
holding pattern here with FEARLESS FOURTEEN, making one wonder how much further
this series can go. The Plum novels have all been brilliantly good fun and
should go out on a bang rather than with a whimper. The laughs are
a little less, the madcap begins to seem a bit repetitive and the hammering of
the supporting characters little foibles is beginning to be a bit
tiring. Every book in the series has been a fun diversion from more
serious reads and they have earned their place in the affections of many who
now just pick up each book to catch up on what Steph, Morelli and Ranger are up
to.
Who can resist a novel that features a humping monkey, gamer grannies and a
fast-food joint called "Cluck-in-A-Bucket"? Enjoy FEARLESS
FOURTEEN.
The Ringmaster
Submitted by sunniefromoz on Sun, 22/06/2008 - 11:17am.
After the events described in Vanda Symon's debut crime novel Overkill, our hero Sam is now training to be a detective at Dunedin Central. The novel begins with the brutal murder of a young female student, one of a number of vicious murders in the region. Being on the lowest rung of the ladder, Sam finds herself assigned not to the murder enquiry but to the local visiting circus, which is being harassed by animal rights activists. Meanwhile, a stalker has been trashing her car and is getting nasty...Sam finds herself at the very centre of the murder investigation when she realises that the itinerary of the touring circus matches precisely the locations of the unsolved murders around the country. The murders seem to correspond with the presence of the circus in town. Sam's insight is a break-through, and soon the investigation centres on the circus and its abrasive owner Terry Benjamin. But when another young Dunedin student is murdered, the killer is now revealed to be much closer to home. Who else is on the murderer's list? The killer is now on Sam's tail and she's in great danger.
Technorati Tags: Crime Fiction New Authors or Books Vanda Symon New Zealand 2008 Penguin Phoebe Banks Series Upcoming Book Releases
Submitted by sunniefromoz on Sun, 22/06/2008 - 2:45am.
THE BUILD UP - Phillip Gwynne
Pan Macmillan - Scheduled for release 1 August, 2008
For Detective Dusty Buchanon, a female cop in the very male world of the Northern Territory Police Force, it always pays to expect the unexpected. When the body of a young Thai prostitute is found in a billabong near a camp of disaffected Vietnam Veterans, Dusty knows this is what she's been looking for – a spectacular case to get her back on top after the debacle of an infamous British backpacker murder trial that almost destroyed her career.
But when the body disappears and her colleagues turn against her, Dusty gets help from an unlikely source: a handsome German bird-watcher holidaying in the Northern Territory, who just happens to be a cop. And soon, the case becomes much more than just another step on her career ladder...
Set against Darwin's hustling, exotic melting pot of people and cultures, Phillip Gwynne has written a truly page-turning crime thriller with an unforgettable hero.
Inside Their Minds : Australian Criminals
by Rochelle Jackson
Allen & Unwin , 01 Aug 2008.
He is 29 years old and commits his horrendous crime alone. He is an underachiever, unskilled, doesn't have a regular job and he is now a mass murderer. What made Martin Bryant go on a brutal killing spree at Port Arthur taking the lives of 35 people?Working with a leading Australian forensic psychologist, investigative journalist Rochelle Jackson takes us deep into the minds of eight of the country's most notorious criminals:
* serial killer, Ivan Millat
* female sex offender, Karen Ellis
* serial arsonist, Peter Burgess
* armed robber and escapee, Brenden Abbott
* child killer, Kathleen Folbigg
* murderer, Matthew Wales
* and gangland warlord, Carl Williams.
She probes their motivations, delves deep into their pasts and unlocks the dark side of their humanity.Inside Their Minds is a penetrating, forensic and revealing investigation of the criminal mind.
The Life and Death of Laura Friday and of Pavarotti Her Parrot
by David Murphy
HarperCollins New Zealand (HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand)) , 01 Aug 2008, Published in New Zealand.
In Bullock, a proud little town somewhere on the coast, they do things differently. It's probably something to do with the way their pioneering ancestors survived months at sea by ingesting seed of hemp, a wondrous medicinal herb they've grown ever since. And when a local man accidentally cuts off his penis, only to be saved by a selfless transplant offer from his transgender brother, the international media come swarming. Fitz Kennedy, Cub reporter for the Bullock Telegraph, loses his scoop and his heart to Frankie Wilton, the scheming femme fatale sent to cover the story for the London tabloids. His revenge is sweet when he turns her into the heartless assassin Laura Friday, who with her parrot, Pavarotti, feature in his first novel. The book is an overnight success. And that's when the fun really starts.
The Ringmaster
by Vanda Symon
Penguin Books (NZ) (Penguin Group (NZ)) , Aug 2008,
After the events described in Vanda Symon's debut crime novel Overkill, our hero Sam is now training to be a detective at Dunedin Central. The novel begins with the brutal murder of a young female student, one of a number of vicious murders in the region. Being on the lowest rung of the ladder, Sam finds herself assigned not to the murder enquiry but to the local visiting circus, which is being harassed by animal rights activists. Meanwhile, a stalker has been trashing her car and is getting nasty...Sam finds herself at the very centre of the murder investigation when she realises that the itinerary of the touring circus matches precisely the locations of the unsolved murders around the country. The murders seem to correspond with the presence of the circus in town. Sam's insight is a break-through, and soon the investigation centres on the circus and its abrasive owner Terry Benjamin. But when another young Dunedin student is murdered, the killer is now revealed to be much closer to home. Who else is on the murderer's list? The killer is now on Sam's tail and she's in great danger.
Ice: The Inside Story of Ice in Australia
by Malcolm Knox
Allen & Unwin , 10 July, 2008
An act of violence while on crystal meth seems to burst boundaries; the perpetrator keeps on hitting and hitting, not knowing why, just going on beyond any purpose or restraint, repeating the action as mindlessly as playing cards or popping Sudafeds out of blister packs.Crystal methamphetamine. Crystal meth. Crystal. Ice. A drug that came out of nowhere and instantly turned things upside down: for users, their families, police, healthcare workers and victims of the random, hyper-violent crimes that are the mark of ice. Nearly 1 in 10 Australians have tried ice.Scatteredis the word coined by some users to describe the trance-like ferocity that can accompany an ice binge, escalating common crime to a terrifying level of violence.
According to support workers on the front line, official statistics have yet to recognise that users have trebled over the last two years and hospital admissions for ice-related psychosis more than doubled.
Walkley award-winning journalist Malcolm Knox examines the ice problem in Australia from the points of view of users, dealers, police, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists and families affected by the drug.Each story he tells goes beyond the statistics and headlines to explore the human cost of ice and to consider its future in Australia.
'I don't know in the time I've been a policeman, which is 41 years, of a greater scourge on the community. The physical and mental manifestations of ice are absolutely horrific. It has the potential to destroy generations.' - Former NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney
Still Missing
by Scott Bainbridge
Penguin Books (NZ), 04 Aug 2008,
Each year hundreds of New Zealanders mysteriously go missing, vanishing from their homes and families, their cars and workplaces seemingly without a trace. Many will remember the publicity surrounding particular cases, but this book gives insider information into the background of all involved, the searches, suspicions, police theories, photos and other evidence.
The Tall Man : Death and Life on Palm Island
by Chloe Hooper
Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Books Australia) , 30 Jun 2008,
In November 2004, in the small township of Palm Island in the far north of Queensland, Detective Hurley arrested Cameron Doomadgee for swearing at him. Doomadgee was drunk. A few hours later he was dead, his liver (according to the inquest) so badly damaged it was almost severed.
The Build Up
Submitted by sunniefromoz on Sun, 22/06/2008 - 1:21am.
For Detective Dusty Buchanon, a female cop in the very male world of the Northern Territory Police Force, it always pays to expect the unexpected. When the body of a young Thai prostitute is found in a billabong near a camp of disaffected Vietnam Veterans, Dusty knows this is what she's been looking for – a spectacular case to get her back on top after the debacle of an infamous British backpacker murder trial that almost destroyed her career.
But when the body disappears and her colleagues turn against her, Dusty gets help from an unlikely source: a handsome German bird-watcher holidaying in the Northern Territory, who just happens to be a cop. And soon, the case becomes much more than just another step on her career ladder...
Set against Darwin's hustling, exotic melting pot of people and cultures, Phillip Gwynne has written a truly page-turning crime thriller with an unforgettable hero.
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